Companies that lease industrial real estate are showing a strong preference for newly constructed buildings instead of older properties, underscoring a sustained “flight-to-quality” trend among occupiers across the market, a Cushman & Wakefield report says.
The findings highlight an ongoing preference among tenants for modern distribution facilities featuring higher clear heights, efficient dock configurations, and enhanced operational functionality.
“Broadly, flight to quality, particularly toward newer space, remains the dominant trend in the market,” said Pat Murphy, Cushman & Wakefield Managing Director. “Many tenants are looking to upgrade from older buildings into facilities that offer greater efficiency, improved functionality, and better support for modern supply chain operations.”
The commercial real estate firm defines industrial properties as those used for manufacturing, warehouse & distribution, industrial, office service, and high technology. In that group, newer industrial assets have captured the lion’s share of leasing activity and positive absorption while older properties continue to experience outright occupancy losses.
As proof of the trend, Cushman & Wakefield pointed to its newly released “Atlanta Emerging Trends” analysis. According to that report, industrial buildings delivered since 2021 recorded 80.8 million square feet of cumulative positive absorption from 2022 through Q2 2026, while product built between 1980-1999 and 2000-2020 posted cumulative occupancy losses of 9.6 million square feet and 10.1 million square feet, respectively.
While direct vacancy among buildings delivered since 2021 remains elevated relative to older inventory, the report notes that vacancy in this segment has fallen sharply from its mid-2024 peak as newer product is absorbed. At the same time, vacancy within older industrial stock has continued to trend upward.
Atlanta remains one of the nation’s largest industrial markets, and the continued outperformance of recently delivered inventory suggests occupiers remain willing to pay a premium for quality as they evaluate opportunities to improve operational efficiency and modernize their real estate footprints.
In the second quarter, metro Atlanta’s industrial market had 10.2 million square feet of new leasing activity and was one of only five markets in the U.S. over 10 million square feet. For the first half of 2026, Atlanta’s industrial net absorption totaled 5.9 million square feet, surpassing first-half totals from 2023 to 2025.
